Crisis Diverted 💸
| 💰 CRISIS DIVERTED  Great news! Congress agreed to stop holding the country hostage and strike up a deal on the debt ceiling. After weeks of brinkmanship, here's the solution lawmakers ginned up: Let's deal with this in December instead.
Apparently all that Republicans and Democrats need is a couple of months to work out their differences — you know, little things like the tax code and the social safety net and their deeply ingrained, fundamentally incongruous visions of human nature.
To be sure, the deal does stave off the imminent threat of financial and economic disaster — the government was set to run out of money on or around October 18. Wall Street certainly cheered the deal (more on that later).
But here's a fun twist: The extension gets us through December 3, which is the same day Congress must pass spending legislation to keep the federal government from shutting down. Happy holidays, everyone!
MY TWO CENTS This whole thing is extremely stupid and unnecessary.
Prior to the mid-90s Republican makeover, the debt ceiling was not a political football. With a few exceptions, raising the limit was routine. Then Newt Gingrich tried to play hardball with the Clinton administration, threatening America with default in a political stunt that backfired spectacularly. Republicans have since repeated the tactic — twice under President Obama, zero times under Trump, and now they're back it under Biden. Notice any pattern here?
There is a sensible solution to all of this: Abolish the debt ceiling altogether. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is on board, as are other economists from across the political spectrum. Virtually no other major economy operates under a similar limit, and it's silly that lawmakers in the United States, the backbone of the global financial system, can hold us all hostage whenever it suits their political agenda.  🤝 SPONSOR CONTENT BY COMPARECARDS  Stop Jumping Through Hoops to Earn Cash Back Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $750 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.
#️⃣ NUMBER OF THE DAY 340 Stocks rallied across the board Thursday after lawmakers announced a short-term extension on the debt limit. The Dow finished up nearly 340 points, or 1%, while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.8%. The Nasdaq increased by 1.1%. It's been a volatile week, however, and with the Delta variant and inflation concerns weighing on investors, more turbulence is likely on the way. 💯 BIZ CAJ 4 EVA  Time for another key economic indicator: Baggy jeans.
Levi's reported that its denim sales are up more than 40% from a year ago as we ease into the kind of fall we haven't seen in far too long — one where we're not seeing a swell of Covid cases. The kind of fall where we can go out and sip cider, plan parties, see friends.
But what will we wear? Answer: whatever's cozy.
"The casualization trends that have been accelerated by the pandemic globally are here to stay," Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh said (while brazenly throwing around fake words like "casualization").
Skinny jeans were on the way out before Covid, but the lockdown that put us all in PJs for the better part of 2020 has officially put the nail in the ill-fitting coffin. (RIP, and good riddance, especially to those late-aughts low-rise skinnies that scarred an entire generation.)
The return of 90s-style baggy jeans signals we're ready for normal life again, as long as we can still be comfortable. Trend spotters say this will apply to office life as well.
"As our society has been growing increasingly casual, we expect to see more jeans to be worn at more formerly dressier situations, like the office, once more people return to in-person work," said NPD apparel analyst Maria Rugolo.
My colleague Parija Kavilanz has more on the new era of the baggy jean.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON? ☀️ Cathie Wood, one of Wall Street's buzziest investors, is leaving Wall Street. Her firm, Ark Investment Management, is closing its New York office and moving down to sunny Florida.
📉 America's CEOs are losing confidence in the economic recovery amid a tight labor market and the threat of the Delta variant.
🚗 Uber is facing legal action in the UK over facial recognition software that allegedly discriminates against people of color.
💸 Charlie Munger, the 97-year old vice chairman of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, is doubling down on China's Alibaba.
GIF OF THE DAY See y'all next week!
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